Remembering our Vets on Veterans Day

As we celebrate Veterans Day, we remember and honor those who have served and those who still serve our nation.  You've heard it before.  These men and women put themselves in harm's way and put their lives on the line to defend our country and keep us safe.  They have given up the comfort of their warm homes to go to the ends of the earth.  Many suffered serious injury and death in the performance of their duties.

As I write this article, the United States remains egaged in the longest continuous war in its history.  And all indications are that we will remain at war for the foreseeable future.  In the meantime, thousands remain in harm's way, scores have paid the ultimate price, and hundreds have returned home with life changing injuries.

Once again I would like to extend a challenge to all of my readers to make a donation to one of the many organizations that help our Veterans in need.  The Disabled American Veterans and Wounded Warrior Project are just two.  I continue to donate funds to veterans organizations and contribute monthly to the Wounded Warrier Project to help those veterans who need our help.  I hope you will do the same.

Again this year I have included, for your entertainment, my favorite video honoring the men and women of our armed forces.  It honors them in an exciting and upbeat way that will have you on your feet.  To date it has been viewed over 215,000 times and continues to receive rave reviews!  Turn up your volume, select full screen and take a few moments to enjoy it.

Decline of the Combat Air Force

Shower Patrol: A Postcard From the Waning Days of the Combat Air Force

For a long time, combat aviation culture dominated the Air Force, for better or worse. Today, it has been all but extinguished.

The Air Force became a historically and globally formidable organization not chiefly by the power of technology, as the conventional wisdom holds, but by the greatness of its squadrons. The squadron was traditionally the domain where airpower practitioners of one stripe or another cohered into tightly-knit, mutually supportive teams. They didn’t just wear the same uniforms and practice the same specialties, they shared a common identity.

That identity revolved around making the enemy suffer by making optimum use of time, energy, and technological advantage. Everything else was relegated to secondary status, and special contempt was reserved for administrative nonsense and its champions. They were held in check with a determined air choke. There was an unspoken understanding that if the service’s long-suffering, aircrew-hating support cabal ever got its hands on the controls, it would steer the service into the ground … or perhaps just back into the Department of the Army.

Check out this article about a disturbing change in the attitude and priorities in today's Air Force:

Shower Patrol: a Postcard From the Waning Days of the Combat Air Force

 [Thanks to USAFA '75 classmate, Ben Bosma, for forwarding this]